The winners of the 133 and 141-pound titles at the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships – Ohio State’s Logan Stieber, and Oklahoma’s Kendric Maple – will face off in the 149-pound match at the 2013 NWCA All-Star Classic, event sponsors announced Wednesday.
It will be the first-ever out-of-weight-class match-up to be featured at the All-Stars, an event that has traditionally featured the top two wrestlers in each weight class since its inception in 1967.
In addition to making history at the 2013 All-Star Classic, Maple and Stieber share a couple additional accomplishments. Both won individual titles at the 2013 NCAAs… and both were undefeated last year. Stieber capped off a 27-0 season on the way to winning the 133-pound title, while Maple completed a 31-0 record after claiming the championship at 141.
The idea of having two champs in different weight classes go up against each other in a third weight class is to fire up wrestling fans at the event that is the traditional kickoff for the college mat season.
"You will only see this match up in the All-Star Classic as they won't be in the same weight class at the national tournament," said Joe Russell, head coach of George Mason University, host of this year’s All-Stars, slated for Nov. 2. "My hat goes off to these two great competitors for agreeing to put it on the line at the NWCA All-Star Classic."
"I appreciate the vision of Wade Schalles for originally pitching the idea of out-of-weight-class matches, (Iowa head coach) Tom Brands for helping push the idea forward, Tom Ryan (Ohio State head coach) and Mark Cody (Oklahoma coach) for encouraging and allowing their wrestlers to compete in a true All-Star bout," said Russell.
In August, Schalles – a two-time NCAA champ and two-time All-Star winner for Clarion University – started the ball rolling at his website by asking fans to weigh in on which match-ups would they want to see most… or, as he put it, “Which ones would you drive two hours to see?”
Other matches are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
The 2013 All-Star Classic takes place Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7:15 p.m. Eastern at Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. in suburban Washington, D.C. To purchase tickets to the event, visit the Ticketmaster website. For more information on the All-Star Classic, visit the NWCA website.
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